La obra periodística de José A.: Alzate ante el debate sobre la naturaleza de América (1768-1795)

During the Age of Enlightenment, an intense debate developed about the nature of America, in which European philosophers and naturalists questioned the prevailing historiography on pre-Hispanic societies and the processes of Spanish conquest and colonization. Theses based on degeneration, inferiority and indolence as characteristic elements of American nature began to gain strength. In the face of these ideas, coming mostly from northern Europe, but also sometimes from peninsular Spain, the Novo-Hispanic Creoles reacted firmly and defended the human and natural wealth of their territory. In order to delve deeper into the Creole participation in the dispute and the ideological consequences it had, I have analyzed the journalistic work of José Antonio Alzate, a Creole of Jesuit formation and enlightened thought whose publications are indispensable to understand the society of New Spain during the last third of the 18th century.